Wind Slabs
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Possible
- Tamaño
- 1
Small wind slabs will build as we receive a couple inches of snow Sunday night and Monday. They probably won't be big enough to bury you, but your largest concern is being in terrain with hard surfaces and objects that you wouldn't want to crash into if you're taken for a ride- like trees or rock patches- or sent off a cliff.
Drifts tend to build on the leeward side of ridges, around rocky outcroppings or subtle features, and in gullies. They could surprise you by quickly shifting from very soft, non wind-affected surface just inches away. Search for smooth, "pillowed" drifts, or alternatively, textured surfaces, as ways to identify where wind has drifted snow. Deposits will be shallow, a good time to use small test slopes and hand pits to see how easily the snow slides on the underlying layer.
If there's more than a few inches of fresh snow, consider steering around areas where drifts could build above terrain traps.
(3/30/2026) A very small human triggered wind slab, where snow deposited around rocks. this is similar to what you might see on Monday. Photo: Ryan Stoddard